The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1887-11-26
A GOOD LIBRARY.
Hint and Suggestions For the Man
Who Reads.

w aOouOs
The first law in selecting books is, l
an sure, to buy along the line of your
special work. 1 do not say in the line,
for that is precisely what is not wanted.
Whist we want is not to be told what We
can see or find out for ourselves, but
what will enable US to see more broadly
than our separate experience would
lead US to see. Books, while not lead
ing US away from sure and special lines
OF life work, should keep az from mar
rowing ourselves into grooves.
The second law is to buy books, in the
main, as we need them. A library
should grow with the mind. These two
rules can be illustrated together. We
will suppose a mans special line is
anthTopo!O2y. Plainly he must also be
a good student of history. He must
also be we'll acquainted with recent
biological researches-Which involve
paleontology and zoology, at least as
far as results of investigation 20. He
Will not have gone far before evolution,
as scientific problem, must be
handled. Dealing fairly with this, he
finds himself involved in ancient re
| ligious theories and comparative
theology. [ need not carry the process
farther, but l say his library should be
| () a working library along this line,
and (2l his books should be bought as
needed.
The possession of large number OF
books is not the possession of library.
| Books, however, Inherently valuable
under certain circumstances, under
| other circumstances become lumber. t
is like a thousand acre farm, of which
! only ten acres are worked, while the
owner Lies liz howell. 1t is impossible
/ to express too strongly the close relation
/ that mind growth should bear to library
growth. Il should be like the growth of
! bone to mans flesh.
| No one should sell or give away his
books that have been used and seem nc
longer needful. Especially should old
sacrediy kept. To no other books do We
sustain so intimate personal relation
ship. We shall surely miss the very
copy of Horace and of De Amicitia that
we grew familiar with, anu some day
| wiil desire to turn to passage in art
Peetica," or Via Sacra," and it will
rot be quite the same as when we read
it in sophomore year on the log in the
glen with Classmate Stevens. | give
every boy and girl warning not to par
with their text books in literature ana
/ classics. Even my old Webster's spell
/ ing book would new be treasure 10 me
| Are such books part of library Mos
truly, yes. They Sre the very essential
part OF library-the tools we have used
as We came along-but tools that never
wear out.
Perhaps q careful distinction should
be made between the books in our study
and those in the library proper ;for eacL
man should h&ve his library, and each
family should have its library. The
iatJer should be built an less restricted
plan; yet certainly under careful rules
A home library shouId, above all, have
an atmosphere of refinement and good
society. 1t should not admit Low bred
book any more Than our drawing
rooms should admit tue familiarity OF
low bred people. An hour spent in il
snoulI produce the refreshment that
Comes from 8 social hour with Titty
aud good friends.
y really good home library must in
t'ude resCrlpts; it is sometimes pity
Ottener not There are not 100 good
authors in general literature that can
not be wisely compressed. It will not
pay to read them through. These
"half Homs" with the best authors
are necessary and valuable. But when
it comes to history am not TO be sure.
And as for Beauties of Ruskin, "
Beauties of Goethe" etc. ETC., let Us
burn them. If l cannot go into rose
| garden for myself, will thank you for
q bunch of flowers; but for you to run
| H. 81 ,,l \ i
that shall smell over again your bou-
qnet, am inclined to select for myself
! A good library grows as our souls
| grow; 1t Widens out its sympathies and
gets larger outlook. But at the same
tiAe a sloughing goes on. We only
| grow well as we can die well. Some
people have great difficulty in dying to
anything; they equally fail to grow !;
that is, to enlarge. Such are your
religious bigots. I hate to see man
who reads an author by the dose-one
| dose day; TWO doses dsy-the way
/ NV grandmother took her Bible. and as
| many take il yet, but in smaller pellets
have friend who carries Shakespeare
| in his pocket, and bolts portion each
day. He resemble for all tie world g
pump that is clogged up from having its
chain run too deep. Shskespear has
always been 100 deep for the fellow, aud
ne Is ouiy pumping sand and gravel.
Another took to carrying mathemati-
cal treatise. ae is himself an equal
angled triangle inscribed 10 a circle.
We must be able TO change inteliectu
ally, outgroW and grow awaw from old
tastes. We all haY our chrome leriod
some stop there.
The bulk of novels is OF no more yelua
than blank-paper. Children who have
little real " rid as yet need q great
deal of the possible and ideal. Novels,
contrary to common opinion, are pecu-
liarly the books for the young-true
novels. Curi0usly, the worlds earliest
literature was mostly imaginative. We
have poems aud tales. 1000 years old,
while logic did not find utterance till
about 2 800 years ago. Voyages, travels,
natural history gradually come to serve
in the place of novels, the actual in the
place OF the possible Lowell urges
the use OF such old volumes of
travel as were written by Voyaeers
when the world was fresh and uphack-